Greatest Night EVER.

What better way to celebrate the conclusion of my graduate career than to meet my environmental idol?
Tuesday, my former boss from Wildlife Prairie Park called to see if I would be interested in attending the 30th anniversary celebration. Gina and I had wanted to go originally, but couldn't afford the $150 tickets. Linda said she had a table donated and we could go for $30. So, of course, we jumped all over it.

As the program was about to begin, one of my former coworkers walked by. She said she was going to go get Jeff and asked if I wanted to go with her. Are you freaking kidding me?!



So we walked from the exhibit halls, through the new Civic Center addition, and up the escalators to the green room. Mr. Corwin was admiring the view of Peoria from the giant windows when we arrived. It was surreal.
So we walked back downstairs and chatted. amazing. unreal. Here is one of the world's foremost conservationists, television personalities (an Emmy winner), and I'm making smalltalk about the Park and wildlife.



Jeff gave an inspiring keynote address on how he came to be a naturalist and conservationist, the importance of protecting our environment and all species, and how all of us can make a difference in our own homes.

What a perfect end to a great day!

it is finished. nearly.

Wow, I never thought this day would come. honestly.
It has been such a struggle.
I realized a few minutes before the presentation was to begin that I have been a Bradley University student 1/3 of my life. 9 years!
I should have been a doctor.
Anyway, the presentation went pretty smoothly. There were probably 12 professors in attendance, including the dean of the grad school. The questions following were pretty grueling, but my advisor said that it was the most responsive audience they'd ever had for a thesis, which meant they understood what I was talking about. that's a good thing when it comes to endocrinology (hormones) and ethology (animal behavior).
Then I spent another hour in a room with my committee. They were surprisingly gentle this time. I think they asked 10 questions or so. Then they went into the office and talked for awhile. My advisor came back out and called me in. "Congratulations."
I could have cried, but I was too happy.
They have the weekend to make final revisions on the thesis, then I have until Friday to get everything polished and turned in to the grad school to have it bound. Half of it will be sent to the Journal for Wildlife Diseases for publication. sweet.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts during the past week. It's been hard and stressful, but you all have made it much MUCH easier! I don't know what I'd do without such amazing friends and family!

not too late!

The wonderful Gina and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Friday, the 18th! It's hard to believe it's already been a year. I can vividly remember the first moment I saw her from across the room. Leslie would introduce us an hour or so later. The rest is history, folks. And we've only yet begun to write the book. Thank you all for being a part of our story. I have never felt so blessed as to be loved by Gina. And the friends that we share are the greatest I've ever known. I am so thankful for where I am in this life. It is hard at times. But I wouldn't trade the experiences I've gained for the world.
I love you, Gina Bean!

Ketchup

Ah.
It's 10:41pm. I should be sleeping. I wish I could say I was feeling relieved that I just emailed both revised (for the 3rd time) chapters of my thesis to the 3 professors that hold my graduate degree fate in their hands. But I still have to finish the powerpoint presentation, and commit to my cloudy memory all the ins and outs of endocrinology, steroid synthesis, stress physiology, and a deluge of statistical analyses that make my head spin.
Friday at high noon is judgement time. I first present the thesis to the biology department and anyone else who shows up. Then I am escorted to a small room and seated at a long table across from "The Three" (ala "The Apprentice"). They can drill me on any of the aforementioned topics for an hour, after which they give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. If all ends well, I am a grad school graduate. If not....well, we won't go there.
It's been a long (5 years), hard road that I could have just as easily walked away from years ago.
But I can't just give up on something.
I will see it through.
And then....
i will sleep.

changes

Often when we go out to a property with an old septic system, everything is buried. The only way to find anything is with the drawing that the inspector made when the system was installed. More often than not, the drawing on the right is what we have to go off. This was done in 1976, scratched on the back of another sheet of paper. Sometimes there are not any directions, distances, labels, etc. The drawing on the left is the one I made for the replacement system at the same address (the original system is in the upper left-hand corner). a bit more detail. It's scary to think what may be out there underground (abandoned septic tanks, cess pools, hand-dug wells...
Maybe in your own backyard!

the details.

My brain has been swimming for the past week. The first half, however, was from a multitude of cold medicines to turn off my faucet-like nose and numb my sandpaper-esque throat. The latter half has been from the stimulating reading and conversations of the weekend.

When I was growing up, the Bible was a storybook. There were some interesting and believable characters in it. And then there were fanciful tales that only a child’s mind could illustrate. Or so I thought.
Then I grew up and was taught that what was written was indeed literal (mostly). If you were facing a challenge in life, whip out your trusty NIV and find the 4 easy steps to solve the problem. I learned that an apologist wasn’t someone who went around telling people they were sorry about being Christians. They had the answers. For EVERYTHING. I wanted to be one. I wanted to shut up my fancy-pants college professors who arrogantly stood at the head of the lecture hall and preached that while evolution was only a “theory,” that it and only it was based on science. You could NOT give any physical support to “creation” because it was based solely on faith (literally said to me as a grad student). Apologists could explain and defend any biblical premise and position.

But recently, I’ve come to the realization that the details that many Christians have disputed, defended, resisted, and talked themselves blue in the face over are not all that critical. Would it be that tragic if the world wasn’t created in six literal days?
Does that change the fact that God created it?

Will anyone care if at the end of time hell isn’t a literal furnace and the devil isn’t a furry guy with ram’s legs and a spiked tail? (ok, I think that last part is from Disney or something). All that matters is that you don’t want to be there! It is eternal separation from God. It matters not if you are on fire or tormented or made to tirelessly eat stacks of unending donuts while you are there.

Are dancing, playing cards, listening to rock music, drinking alcohol, etc. activities that ultimately sinful? Or does each individual have to make the distinction between what is good or not good for themselves. To what extent is this a stumbling block to me? At what point does this activity turn me away from HIM?

I think that there are infallible, undeniable, and unwavering TRUTHs in the bible. There are laws that God handed down in the Old Testament that did not change when the New Covenant of Jesus was instilled and the concrete is still hardening today. The pillars of Christianity have not crumbled and have not been altered to fit today’s changing culture. I GET THAT. But TRUTH in other matters can be true in different ways to different people. We have 136 different “Christian” churches in Peoria alone! There is a reason.

So with all the recent discussion and some hostility towards “emergent,” “emerging,” “postmodern” churches or their leaders, I don’t understand all the hubbub. If you take one path and someone takes another and you both end up at the same destination, what’s wrong with their path?
It’s not that one church is right or another is wrong. Maybe they’re both wrong. Maybe they’re both right. Maybe it doesn’t even matter.

What does matter is Jesus and the way he lived. Let's just do that.

LOWER YOUR ENERGY BILL-grab a shovel.

Over 70% of the energy consumed by a typical house is used to meet heating and cooling needs. In the U.S., heating and cooling buildings accounts for 43% of the carbon emissions, 39% of the energy consumption, and 53% of the natural gas usage. Why do we only consider cars and trucks when talking about conserving energy, oil, etc?!

Currently less than 1% of Illinois’ energy comes from renewable sources (readily replenished). There is a mandate in our state that by 2025, 25% of our energy MUST come from renewable sources. Got any ideas?

47% of solar energy is absorbed by the earth’s surface and is stored below the frost line. In Illinois, the ground temperature stays 52-57ºF year-round. Wind and solar energy are good sources of renewable energy, BUT they don’t do anything to decrease our dependence on energy. They just create more, so the power companies are still happy. Geothermal systems are more efficient, reducing energy requirements and your monthly power bill.

Ground Source Heat Exchange systems MOVE energy, they don’t create it. A heat pump (replaces the furnace) runs water through a sealed or open loops in underground piping where it is naturally heated or cooled by the ground. The heat pump elevates low-grade heat to high-grade heat by compression and reverses for cooling.

GSHE systems are 50-70% more efficient for heating and 20-40% more efficient for cooling than traditional forced air systems. The current systems in place are already saving the U.S. 14 million barrels of crude oil per year. Illinois had around 3,000 homes and buildings using geothermal systems in 2006.

On average, a 2000 sq. ft. home requires $2,100 of fossil fuel to heat and cool it each year. The same home on a geothermal system requires $700 of fossil fuel! Currently, only 1 in 70 new homes utilizes this technology. Why? Cost. It costs approximately $10K more to install one of these systems as opposed to traditional. This is because well drillers have to drill several (3-8) bore holes 150-175’ deep to run the pipes. However, if you are on a 30-year mortgage, it only adds $59/month or $708/year. And remember you are saving $1,400 on heating/cooling costs!!! That’s at today’s prices. Who knows how far this “energy crisis” will go and how much we will be paying a few years down the road?!

Other benefits: quiet operation, low maintenance, no machinery at ground surface or outside the home (it’s virtually invisible once installed), free hot water (by-product of heat pump), environmentally friendly.

To me, it’s a no-brainer. If you’re building a new home, put one of these in. If you are replacing your current system, the return on investment is 8-10 years. But it’s worth it. You are making a difference.

Hanging in there.

Last night Joe taught me the sacred art of hanging and mudding drywall. Mudding truly is an art (so I watched).
With the last tenant to move in on the 15th, time is precious. The walls in the main room still need drywall over the ancient plastered brick, 5 windows have to be replaced, a new steel front door has to be hung, walls and ceilings need to be primed and painted, the bathroom ceiling has to be replaced, and laminant floors need to be laid throughout. Wow. 7 days.

Irresistible.

I must preface this tale by saying that we receive calls from people every day that are bizarre, creepy, and sometimes, downright insane.

So yesterday, out of the sheer boredom that comes with watching 3 men dig a trench, I decided to mess with my co-workers.

I called the office (we don't have caller-I.D.) and one of the secretaries answered. In my most distinguished Pekin-esque, "carnie" accent (sorry), I told the unsuspecting administrative assistant that I had a pet chimpanzee and would like to know if there were any required permits for possessing said simian. She paused, and nervously answered that she would have to transfer me to someone else. Before she could do so, I revealed my true identity. She laughed in relief and then suggested giving my cell number with my monkey request to our supervisor, Ray. Brilliant!

Ray is quiet, professional, and serious. So he was the PERFECT target for our scheme.

15 minutes later my phone rang. I answered with a big "Hee-haw" hello. Ray introduced himself and asked if I had a question about a pet. I informed him that I had a chimpanzee. He then stated I would need to contact Animal Control with my inquiry. I boldly exclaimed (with slack-jaw) that I did not require animal control because I had already got the chimp under control. I continued that he used to go after small children, but he had calmed down now and there was no need for Animal Control.
silence on the other end of the phone line.
"Sir, I'm going to transfer you to animal control."
I then burst forth with the notion of bringing the ape into a food establishment, such as bringing him to baseball games to sell peanuts.
again, silence.
"Sir, I'm going to have to transfer you to our food program supervisor."

At that, I lost it! I broke character and revealed my true identity.
Ray cursed loudly into the phone and slammed down the receiver.

When I called the secretary a couple of minutes later, all I could hear was tumultuous laughter from the office staff. They had all been listening outside his office door.

nailed it.

the good stuff

It's been a good weekend. I'm sitting on the back porch soaking up the sun and despite the neighbor kids pestering each other on the opposite side of the fence, it's a perfect afternoon.
I got to spend a full day working at Nwoods on Friday since I was gone all day to the geothermal conference in Chicago on Wednesday. I got a lot accomplished but it didn't feel at all like work. I enjoyed it. It was fun. It was just a taste of what working in an enjoyable career would be like.

Saturday was equally as beautiful as today. After hauling "26 sheets of drywall!" in Joe's $400, 1980-somthin' F250 (which boasts an enormous 460 engine) to the apartment building, Gina and I took a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood and then spent a couple of hours lounging and reading on the back porch. We then drove to Canton for her cousin's wedding reception. It was fun, but I think I was asleep before we left the city limits on the way home (probably 10:15ish).

This morning's service at Imago Dei was inspirational, as Charlie taught about embracing and becoming salt and light. The place is full of life. We visited with friends afterward and a bunch of us went to Old Chicago for lunch. Good times, great people.

We also got great news yesterday that Cougar's liver enzyme levels have returned to normal! Only one more day of fighting him to take his meds. He usually is at the bottom of the stairs by the time I get out of the bedroom in the morning, howling for his breakfast. But he has to have a pill one hour before eating, which he has learning, and today he wouldn't even leave the bed. He's been a furry little trooper.

So I'll keep working on my tan (and thesis presentation) until it's time to take a walk to Emo's with the Potters and then head out to the Dean's for small group tonight. I wish days like this could last forever (or at least replace the monday-friday workweek).

1 Corinthians 2
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.


CRAV this weekend spoke volumes to these words of Paul's. You don't have to be eloquent or a biblical scholar to spread the gospel. You don't need to be a pastor or even be old enough to drive. When you are LIVING in a way that shows you SERVE the MASTER of ALL, you speak louder than any bullhorn preacher, and reach deeper than any international televangelist.

Live out the words...

at last?

April 24, 2008.
I finally have acquired positive responses from all three committee members that Thursday at 12:00pm will work for a thesis defense. So that's a good thing.

The bad? They've had my papers for going on 7 weeks now. And it seems they haven't found an hour in all those days and weeks to read them. And I can't get a straight answer of when I can expect them back for revision. I've spent a couple of hours working on my presentation this afternoon at the office.

This morning, we had a biscuits and gravy benefit for one of our co-workers who has been fighting cancer for about 6 months. For the occasion, I decided it would be a good idea to eat 5 biscuits and 3 full cups of mouth-watering sausage gravy. Needless to say, I skipped lunch. and dinner won't be necessary either.
On a lighter note, we raised over $1,500 for Scott and his family.

Tomorrow I have the pleasure of attending a geo-thermal conference in Naperville from 8-5. I can hardly freaking wait!!!